Think twice about technology in schools, as trend bucks its adoption

ALLOW me to summarise and add my comments concerning technology in schools at primary school level, as reported in The Sunday Times in the UK on November18 last year.

At a time when most educationists and departments of education are going bonkers about the use of technology and its applications, this article serves as a caution.

The Silicon Valley gurus who introduced the medium and hooked us and our children are sending their own kids to schools that are screen-free. These have no smartphones, social media apps, computers or tablets.

The Waldorf school is one such institution to which these computer experts are sending their children, at a cost in excess of $40000 (R552000) per year. They prefer schools where the curriculum comprises life skills, reading, writing, chalkboards and paper and pencil. The curriculum, apart from the above listed and the three Rs, also includes more day-to-day chores, such as home economics.

In the same vein, the Steiner schools, as they are called in the

UK, emphasise self-reliance, values, creativity, problem solving and self expression.

This summer, France banned smartphones for all children up to 15 years old in an effort to prevent screen addiction.

The article I referred to is a must for all education policy makers, curriculum specialists and educators. It’s something that Mr Panyaza Lesufi, a proponent of technology in schools, needs to read and provide the balance that seems to be ideal.